It's probably a wash financially, but it's a PR win and they would need a draft to have enough personal to do the job themselves.

It reduces the official KIA and WIA numbers and the private contractors don't have as many pesky rules (of engagement). And with the current anti-war sentiment of the public a draft would be political suicide.

I remember reading about this about a year ago. If you factor in everything it was about 25% cheaper. If one dies we don't have to pay either which is cheaper. Plus we would basically either have a draft or raise pay to fill the spots.

Every private security employee is paid a minimum of six figures when they're overseas. The federal government pays out the ass for private forces and equipment. Not to mention you have an uncoordinated battlefield with troops that don't answer to a chain of command and pay less attention to rules of engagement if at all.

I'd rather have soldiers that are better coordinated, have better benefits, are on a tighter watch than ones that are cheaper. That in itself, not including the higher medical costs, would shorten the wars we are in.

If Karzai is the best we've got, then it is the most obvious evidence that Afghanistan will return to being a giant fuck up immediately after we leave, no matter when we leave. That guy has said so much shit out of both sides of his mouth. We really need to realize this - that we will never succeed in Afghanistan, and just pull out right now. Save the money, and just strike Taliban strong holds from the air.

As soon as the man was appointed (don't remember any purple finger in Afghanistan, do you?), I gave him a year tops before some true believer off'ed him. If I recall correctly, his security is still provided by private contractor, so maybe that was the thing throwing my prediction off (it is also my understanding that he lowers his chances of being made an example of by spending a lot of time outside of the country).

He's got drug money and backing from quite a few Afghan factions. He by no means controls the country, but he's certainly a reasonably powerful warlord. This isn't the action of a puppet, but a politician angling for more influence after the US withdrawal.

If the critics are correct then Afghanistan will be able to maintain or improve security after the private security forces leave. But, if the critics are wrong things will go from very bad to much worse fairly quickly. So, if you had to make the decision and the lives of many people depended on making the right choice, what would you do? Maybe it comes down to luck as to which way things will go. If you were in Afghanistan, would you feel that luck was on your side?